Specific protein dephosphorylation in apoptosis induced by ionizing radiation and heat shock in human lymphoid tumor lines.

Apoptosis or programmed cell death is observed in a variety of organisms and tissues and is characterized by distinct morphologic changes to the cell. Although early indicators of this process have been described, their functional relevance remains unknown. We have used two-dimensional gel electrophoresis to look for characteristic and consistent changes in the phosphorylation state of proteins during apoptosis, induced by different agents, in the B cell lymphoma line, BM13674, and the T cell leukemia line, CEM-C7. We report that apoptosis induced by either heat treatment or by ionizing radiation exposure is accompanied by dephosphorylation of a limited number of specific proteins. The pattern of dephosphorylation was similar after both treatments in BM13674 cells. In CEM-C7 cells, dephosphorylation was also observed after heat and irradiation. One of these proteins corresponded to one dephosphorylated in BM13674 cells. Okadaic acid, an inhibitor of phosphatases 1, 2A, and, to a lesser extent, 2B, prevented apoptosis in all cases and inhibited dephosphorylation of this common protein as well as some of the others. It seems likely that activation of a phosphatase(s) or loss of activity of a kinase is of central importance in apoptosis in these systems.